When I arrived downtown, I was greeted with the sounds of drumming. When I parked my car and walked to the entrance of the event, I saw that these were students of the Success Through the Arts program. The music was great and it felt good to see that the donations were going to these excellent kids.

I was worried that they might not let me in with my camera, so I had to stick with crappy cell photos.

The above photo is of Lizz Wright who sang beautifully. Her back-up singers were two very talented ladies who went through the Pullman program when they were younger. They had excellent voices. Lizz started the event singing many tunes. I’ll admit, I don’t really know jazz and wasn’t familiar with most of the music played that night, but I loved it all. Her voice was so powerful and soulful.

Next up, Jackson Browne (host of the event and board member of the STTA Foundation) joined Lizz Wright on stage for some songs. Jackson Browne sang many of his own songs too.

Herbie Hancock came out on stage to honor Wayne Shorter. I might be pretty dumb when it comes to jazz, but I could tell I was in the presence of jazz royalty. It was so special to watch.

At the end of the show everyone came out to jam together. That was probably the most special part of the night. Getting to see the kids on stage in a jazz band with these legends was so inspirational. And they all took turns getting solos, from the biggest legend to the smallest kid. I can’t express what a great cause this is. And getting to see the results on stage rounded out this event.